Lost and Alone
by othlover2007
Summary: The gang decides to take one last road trip to California after graduation to drop off Peyton and Brooke in Los Angeles. Will they ever make it there with the tragedy that strikes within the first few hours of the trip? Rated T for violence and language.
1. Road Trip

Hi everyone. This is my first fic, so I hope you like it. I'm not sure where to take this story just yet. I've got some ideas in my head, but we'll see what happens in the coming chapters. I've pretty much explained what's going on here in the summary. Just a couple of other things… Hayley isn't pregnant and Luke never found out about Dan killing Keith. His mom also isn't pregnant. Those storylines would interfere with this one, so I let them go. I don't own One Tree Hill and it's characters. Well, enough of me babbling, let's get to the story.

---

She was running. She was running and she didn't know where. She was lost. Scared. Hurt. Eighteen-year-old Brooke Davis found herself in disarray as she was trying to catch her breath, sitting down on a moss-covered rock.

She looked down at the blood on her hands, not even noticing the wounds of her own. In a panicked manner, she wiped the blood off onto her designer jeans. Tears welling up in her eyes and looking up at all of the trees surrounding her, Brooke screamed as loud as she could, but her voice was limp. She was getting weaker by the second from the injuries and knew she had to find her friends fast. Peyton didn't have much time either…

3 hours earlier…

Lucas is at the gas pump, filling the SUV up for the trip that the five teenagers are about to embark on. Hayley and Nathan are pretty cozy in the backseat and Luke laughs at this. He looks over to see an excited Brooke hurrying out of the convenience store with Peyton tagging along, carrying bags of food.

"Brooke, do you have to hit on _everyone?_" asks Peyton.

"Hey, it got us free food, didn't it!" replies Brooke as she jumps in the car and lands next to Hayley and Nathan.

Hayley opens one eye, looks at Brooke, and mumbles "Are you always this peppy at five in the morning?"

"Only when I haven't been drinking the night before…and trust me, there will plenty of that to come in the next couple of weeks."

Hayley sighs and burries her head into Nathan's chest, returning to the dreaming she was rudely awoken from.

Peyton approaches Lucas, who is still filling up the tank, and he wraps an arm around her.

"Has anyone ever told you that you make pumping gas look sexy?" asks Peyton.

Lucas laughs at the comment with a smile. "Nope, can't say anyone has. But, hey, I'll consider it for a future career path if college doesn't work out for me."

"Don't be silly, Luke. You're going places and I know it."

"Speaking of which, we've gotta hit the road soon if we wanna stay on schedule. Let's go."

"Okay. Hey, with Brooke with us, by the time we get to California, we won't have paid for a thing."

Lucas laughs as he gets in the driver's side and pulls away.

---

Peyton was staring out the window for what felt like an hour. She was listening to her MP3 player, getting lost in the music and trying to forget all of the bad that's happened to her in the last couple of years. She closed her eyes tightly and one lonely tear rolled down her cheek.

Lucas had been looking over at Peyton from time to time, checking up on her. He knew something was wrong as soon as he saw the tear. Placing a hang on her thigh he asked "Hey…what's wrong? I thought this is what you wanted."

"It is. And this trip is going to be great. But at the end of it, I have to leave you, and that's something I'm not looking forward to…"

Luke had nothing to say. He knew that they would be on two different coasts this summer, but he wanted this internship for her. He just wanted to see her happy, and seeing her sad on the road trip was hurting him too.

Brooke was trying not to listen in, but Hayley and Nathan were still fast asleep and she had nothing to distract her from the couple. Trying to break the awkwardness, she announced "I have to pee!"

"We just stopped a couple of hours ago. Can't it wait?" asked Luke.

"No, I've gotta go now."

"Alright." Lucas pulled over and waited for Brooke to get out.

Brooke looked around and laughed. "Where am I supposed to go? There's just woods surrounding us."

"Yeah, and it's gonna be like that for the next ten miles or so. There's nothing out here, so if you gotta go, go in the woods."

Brooke sighed. "Okay. Fine. But P. Sawyer is coming with me." Brooke pulls open the passenger's side door and takes Peyton's hand. "Come on Peyton. I can't let you wallow any longer."

---


	2. The Worst Day Since Yesterday

**Hi everybody. Thank you for the reviews, they were much appreciated. I forgot to mention that the couples were Leyton and Naley, and Brooke is single. Her and Chase never got back together. And sorry I was spelling Haley's name wrong. Also, I know this seems centered around Peyton right now, but there will be some involvement with other characters later. Sorry it took so long to update, but I kept debating between ways in which I could take the story, and this update is pretty long, so I hope you enjoy. Flashbacks are in italics. As always, I do not own One Tree Hill or any of their characters.**

**---**

The two girls were walking around bushes and stepping over low branches, as Brooke searched for a spot to sit. After a couple of minutes Brooke found a log at the top of a hill, which had eroded away from the river beneath it.

"Brooke what are we really doing here?"

Brooke sat down on the log and began "Come on Peyton. I've known you forever and I can tell when something is bothering you." Peyton looks over at the river and folded her arms. She really didn't like opening up to people. "This isn't about Lucas, is it? I mean, I heard you in the car, but you're not the type to let a guy get you all upset. You've been through a lot in your life, Peyt. So, come on tell me what's up."

Peyton looked back at Brooke, this time, her eyes filled with tears. "I just really miss my mom. And my dad is still off at sea. And with all the shit I've been through, I could really use a parent in my life right now. High school is over now, and it's a really scary next step. A little guidance would be nice."

Brooke stood up and wrapped her arms around her best friend. "It's okay Peyton. I'm here now. I'm sorry I wasn't around when you needed me the most." Tears were welling up in her eyes now, too.

"I know Brooke. But I'm just scared."

Brooke released Peyton and was looking at her now. She wiped the tears from her friend's face. "It's okay to be scared. We're all scared. You'd have to be crazy not to be."

"I know. You're right." Peyton pulled out her phone to look at the time. "Brooke we've been out here for almost ten minutes. We should probably call Luke and tell him we're okay." She waved her phone around in the air trying to get a signal. "Damn, no service."

Brooke began to take out her phone from her pocket to check if she had a signal. "Me neither."

"Hello Peyton," a voice said in the distance.

Peyton looked around, not knowing where the voice was coming from. Then, the voice started coming closer and Peyton looked over to see who this mystery person was. It was a girl with a pale-white face, blonde hair, blue eyes, and all black clothes, about the same age as the two girls. This wasn't important to Brooke, because her eyes were only on one thing: the gun that the girl was holding. At sight of this, she grabbed Peyton's hand and it felt like déjà vu from when they were attacked by Ian.

"Hi, Peyton. I've been following you for quite some time now, just waiting for the right opportunity to approach you."

Peyton just kept staring right at the girl, unafraid.

"What the hell do you want!?" screamed Brooke. The girl looked at Brooke and just grinned.

Staring straight into the girls face, Peyton asked, "Who are you?"

The girl laughed. "What, you can't tell?" Peyton looked at the girl and started having flashbacks of Ian. "I'm Ian's younger sister, Liz! And you're the one that put him in jail… I sure do look like him, huh?"

"Look's like the apple doesn't fall far from the psycho tree," replied Brooke.

Liz pointed the gun at Brooke's head and said, "Don't test me. I'm the one with the gun here, okay?"

"You don't have the guts to pull that trigger. You're scared, and I can tell," replied Brooke.

"Oh yeah?" She then aimed the gun at Peyton's head, and then lowered it to her leg and fired a bullet.

Peyton let out a scream and fell to the ground, grabbing her leg.

"Peyton!" screamed Brooke as she knelt down next to her friend, trying to help. Then she looked back at Liz. "What the fuck is the matter with you, you psycho bitch!?"

"Well, I was just giving Peyton what she deserved. Now, seeing as somebody probably heard that, we better get a move on, shall we?" Brooke looked at her and didn't move. "Come on! Unless you wanna end up like your friend there, then let's go. Help her up. I haven't got all day."

Brooke knew that this girl was crazy and that she meant business. If they were going to make it out alive, then they would have to play by the rules. Brooke looked back at her friend who was in serious pain. "Hey, Peyt. How are you doing? Do you think you can walk?"

"Not so good," Peyton replied in an agonizing tone.

Brooke ripped off one of her sleeves and tied it to Peyton's leg to apply pressure and stop the bleeding. "Come on," she said, helping her up and putting an arm around her.

"Aww, really touching, you guys," Liz said in a sarcastic manner. "Now get moving." She waved the gun at them in the direction she wanted them to go and followed them close behind, keeping the gun pointed at Brooke's back. Peyton was hobbling on one foot, with her arm around Brooke, wishing the pain would stop. She had a flashback to when Lucas was with her in the library and wished he were here now to help her again.

---

Lucas had the air conditioner on, with the windows up, and music playing. He had his head back, and eyes shut, resting for a bit before he had to drive again. He was daydreaming about Peyton and how lucky he was to have her. The trip reminded him of the time they were in Honey Grove, and the amazing night they spent together.

_Peyton was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her hands._

_Lucas had just come out of the shower, and had a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked over at Peyton and knew something wasn't right. He went over to her and sat next to her. "Hey, what's wrong?" He pushed the golden locks that were covering her face back behind her ear._

"_Lucas, I still get scared at night…I thought I was over that. After seeing Der—I mean, Ian, in jail and facing him, I thought everything was going to be okay."_

"_It's okay, Peyton. No one is going to hurt you again. I can promise you that, because I'll protect you. Ian is locked up and he's not coming back."_

"_Yeah, I know…" _

_Lucas placed a kiss on her forehead, and then met his lips with hers, sharing a passionate kiss._

"_Luke…" Peyton said, as Lucas was kissing her neck. "I think I'm ready."_

_Lucas stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eyes. "Are you…sure?"_

"Lucas…"

"_Yes. I love you, Luke, and I want this more than anything."_

"LUCAS…"

"_I love you too, Peyton."_

"HEY! Luke, wake up!" Haley yelled, shaking him this time.

"What? What is it? What happened?" asked Lucas as he was wiping the drool from his face. "Where are the girls?"

"I was just about to ask you the same question. I just woke up, and here we are, pulled over, and Peyton and Brooke are gone."

"Oh. Brooke had to go to the bathroom, and she took Peyton with her…" He looked at the time. "Oh jeez… that was like twenty minutes ago, though."

"All right. Don't worry, they're probably just talking, or something. I'll go find them. Which way did they go?"

Luke pointed to where they went. "Hurry up Hales, we're on a time schedule here."

"Hey, I'm not the one who pulled over and fell asleep, remember?" Haley replied as she entered the woods.

"Yeah, yeah…"

Nathan was now fully awake.

"That Haley can sure be moody sometimes, huh, Nate?"

"Yeah, you don't even see the half of it." Nathan looked in the back seat for his basketball, and opened up the car door. "Come on, let's get some fresh air." He was dribbling the ball around and looked at Lucas, who was standing in front of the car with his hands in his pockets. "What's the matter, Luke? Still mad that I schooled you the other night at the river court," said Nathan, jokingly.

There was a scream off in the distance, and the two boys looked at each other with worried faced. "Haley," they both said. Nathan dropped the ball, and they ran into the woods.


	3. Always Suffering

**Sorry this took so long to update. I've been extremely busy with work and everything else right now. I'm trying to have the story progress at a decent pace so I don't have to keep everyone waiting, but this is suspense, and I enjoy leaving you guys wanting more, so just sit tight. This chapter doesn't really focus on Peyton as much, so I hope it's a little better.**

**P.S. sorry about the Brucas I threw in here. It fit, so I included it.**

**As always, I do not own One Tree Hill or any of it's characters.**

**---**

Haley was kneeling on the ground, not sure what to make of what she was seeing. She started feeling really sick and then got light-headed, and feinted.

Nathan was calling out for Haley. "HALEY!!??" Nathan yelled. "Haley, where are you!?"

"I think I see her, man. Over there." Lucas pointed to where he saw the body, and the two boys ran over to her.

Nathan knelt down next to Haley. "Haley. Baby, wake up. Please. It's Nathan."

Haley awoke to the love of her life kneeling over her. "Hey," she said smiling.

"Haley, are you hurt. Where's this blood from?"

She had realized why she passed out in the first place, and suddenly became scared again. "I…I dunno. I'm anemic, and I feinted from the sight of the blood. I couldn't find Brooke or Peyton anywhere." She looked at Lucas and then back at Nathan as they exchanged worried looks. "What do we do?"

Lucas devised a quick plan. "Okay, first, let's get back to the car and call the police."

"We can't go back. There's not a police station for miles. Admit it. We're in the middle of nowhere and the only people who can help Brooke and Peyton are us," replied Nathan.

Lucas looked at him, not saying a word, knowing he was right.

He looked over to see a broken Haley, who was silently sobbing. He helped her up slowly and pulled her into a tight embrace. "It's okay, Hales. We'll find them. You've gotta pull yourself together though, okay?"

Nathan stood up as well and now looked down at the crimson-stained leaves. "Come on. There's a trail of blood. We can follow it and it will lead us to them."

Luke released Haley from the hug and had an arm around her. "But, Nate. We don't know what happened. For all we know, we could be putting ourselves in serious danger."

"Yeah, but we've gotta do something. We can't just call the cops and wait around for them. The girls might not have enough time to wait. Now come on. Follow me," replied Nathan.

Haley had wiped away all of her tears and looked up at Lucas, who was still worried. "Come on Luke. We can't let him go by himself."

"Okay," he obeyed.

The three were now walking in a quick fashion, following the trail of blood left behind by the curly-haired girl.

---

The girls were still walking at gun-point and they were now deep in the woods. Peyton was now very pale, her eyes were puffy and her mascara had streamed down the sides of her face from the tears.

Brooke could see that her friend was really struggling, and she was limping more and more, every step along the way. "Peyton, how are you holding up? We can do this, okay? It's gonna be fine."

Peyton was in too much pain to respond. She was very tired and couldn't go on any longer. Her body became as limp as a rag doll as she collapsed. Brooke caught her as she was falling and lowered her body to the ground.

"I guess this spot will suffice," Liz announced.

"You're a sick person, and I hope you die and go to hell," responded Brooke, who now had her friend sitting upright against her. "Peyton, whatever you do, don't fall asleep. You can fight this. Stay strong."

"All right I've had enough of these 'Lifetime' movie moments out of the two of you," said Liz. She waved the gun at Brooke. "You. Get up and leave her alone. Go stand by that tree or something."

"But she'll die…"

"And that's the point. I want you to watch her suffer a slow death. And I want her to know how Ian feels, as he spends the rest of his life in jail."

"How can you even say that? Your brother was sick. He commited a crime and deserves every day of the hell he goes through in prison. Peyton is innocent and did nothing to deserve this," Brooke spat back.

Liz pointed the gun towards Brooke. "I suggest you move now, before I have you join your friend. You're lucky I haven't killed you already. But don't worry…you're next."

Brooke knew she didn't have a lot of options, so she stood up, and started walking over to the tree. She saw that Liz was inspecting her gun with delight, and wasn't paying attention. She rushed at Liz as fast as possible. Liz realized what was happening and fired a bullet, which had brushed Brooke's shoulder. She let out a yelp while tackling Liz to the ground.

Brooke ripped the gun out of Liz's hand and tossed it aside. She didn't just want to shoot Liz. She wanted her to suffer, just like Peyton. Her shoulder was throbbing, but the adrenaline rush she was having made the pain disappear for a few moments. Brooke was now landing punch after punch, until the tiredness settled in, and as she was weakened from the pain, she fell over.

Liz wiped her sweaty and bloody face, and breathed heavily. She straddled Brooke and began choking her. "Doesn't feel so great, now, does it?"

Brooke didn't have the strength left in her to fight anymore. She was turning blue in the face and had started accepting death. As an end for Brooke Davis grew near, she couldn't help but recall events in her life.

"_Wake up Luke!," yelled a very happy Brooke._

"_Ugh." He looked over at his alarm clock. "Explain to me why we are up at 6 in the morning, Brooke," he said, rubbing his eyes._

"_Because it's your birthday, silly! I've got a whole plan for today, and it's going to be the best day of your life." Brooke was straddling Luke and shaking him, trying to wake him up._

_He tugged at her hand and pulled her next to him. He wrapped an arm around her and tightened the embrace, his eyes still closed. "Staying in bed all day with you would be the best day of my life, Pretty Girl."_

_Although Luke couldn't see it, Brooke was now blushing intensely and her smile widened as he placed small kisses on the back of her neck. "This is already the best day of my life," she said to herself, closing her eyes._

For some reason, this is the one moment in her life that Brooke kept running through her head as she was losing oxygen. She missed him, and wished he really knew how she felt about him before she died.

Just when her vision was getting blurry and she began to get very cold, Brooke heard a loud crack. Suddenly she could breathe again, and Liz's grip loosened. She looked up to see Liz spit up some blood and fall over. "What happened?" Brooke asked herself. Her vision was starting to clear and she realized where the gun shot had come from.


	4. Running Scared

**Sorry this took so long to update…again. I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope all of you do too. I recently changed the rating from M to T because I realized people just assume because the fic is mature, that there are sex scenes in it. Well, my fic will only have some violence and cussing in it, so hopefully we can get more viewers with the rating drop. Thank you for reading. Please review, I love hearing feedback.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or the characters.**

**As always, flashbacks are in italics. Just for a refresher…**

_Just when her vision was getting blurry and she began to get very cold, Brooke heard a loud crack. Suddenly she could breathe again, and Liz's grip loosened. She looked up to see Liz spit up some blood and fall over. "What happened?" Brooke asked herself. Her vision was starting to clear and she realized where the gun shot had come from._

"Shit." Lucas stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Haley and Nathan. The three of them were now exchanging worried glances because they had all heard the heart-wrenching crack that filled the air. It seemed to have echoed through the trees, because neither of them could distinguish which way it was actually coming from.

Lucas knew there wasn't much time, and without a second thought, started sprinting through the woods without ever looking back. Lucas' eyes were now stinging with tears as he tried to hold them back. This was his worst nightmare; his girls being in trouble and him not being there to save them.

"_The ship is going down, sir. You need to get in a lifeboat now! And for god's sake, put this life jacket on!" demanded one of the crew members._

"_No. I can't. I have to find her first," Lucas shot back without looking at the man. He started running towards the ballroom, assuming he would find Peyton there. And there she was, floating at the top of the ice- cold, ocean-filled room._

"_No! Peyton, wake up. Come on baby, wake up," he pleaded._

_No response._

_She had waited for him to come save her rather than take the initiative to find him. She assumed he would come looking for her. She awoke and locked eyes with him. "You're always saving me," she said with one last breath._

_Lucas was holding her hand, and her grip loosened, causing her hand to dangle at her side. _

"_PEYTON! No!!!" Lucas screamed._

_The room quickly filled with water, and at this point Lucas' legs were numb from the sting of the drop in temperature, making it difficult to swim. His only option was to stay there and die by the side of the woman he loved. He was choking up water, and gasping for air. He had finally accepted his fate once the water reached the ceiling, and he saw Peyton submerged underwater, floating effortlessly and without movement._

_Then he heard a familiar voice in the distance, echoing in his head._

"_Wake up Luke."_

_He looked around frantically as the surroundings in his dream now faded and came back to reality. He awoke to staring at a blank white ceiling with beads of sweat on his forehead. He was gasping for breath and trying to distinguish reality from fiction, because he swore he could still feel the ice cold sting in his lungs from the water. Then he looked to his left to see a gold-locked girl leaning over him, shaking his arm ever so gently. He instantly smiled at the sight of her and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Nothing should hide that pretty face," he said._

_She smiled back and blushed slightly. "Luke. You were having a bad dream. And I woke up to you screaming. It sounded pretty bad. Care to elaborate?"_

_He stopped smiling and thought back to his nightmare. He sighed before starting to talk. "I had a dream I was on the Titanic, and you were on it with me. It was sinking and I tried to find you. When I did, you were dying. You waited for me instead of getting on a life boat, because you thought I would be back to save you, but when I found you, it was too late."_

"_Luke is this about the whole Der…I mean, Ian thing? The fact that Brooke got there before you did?"_

_He was now sitting up so that he was at eye-level with her. "No…well…I dunno. I mean, I'm always the one saving you, and I'm just scared that one day I won't be able to. I feel like you'll be out of my reach and being harmed, and there's gonna be nothing I can do about it."_

"_Luke, I'm gonna be off on my own in a bit and eventually you won't always be there to protect me. I can fend on my own. I did for a while before we were even friends, and I can do it again if I have to."_

"_I know. It's just a scary thought."_

Lucas snapped back to reality, trying to forget the terrible dream he had last week. He felt an immense amount of pain in his chest, and he assumed it was from his HCM. He ran as long as he could, but eventually collapsed onto the cold hard dirt. He rolled onto his back and was clutching his chest, trying to breathe regularly.

Nathan and Haley finally caught up to Lucas. Even Nathan, who was in the best shape of his life, was having a hard time keeping up with his crazed brother. They were both hunched over, leaning against a tree, and trying to catch their breath.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Luke?" Haley managed to blurt out between gasps. "You know you have HCM. You can't risk another trip to the hospital."

"It's okay Hales. I took my meds today," replied Lucas.

Nathan put his hand out, and helped Lucas to his feet. "Dude, that doesn't mean you're allowed to sprint for long amounts of time. If I can't last this long, you sure as hell can't."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I was just thinking…well I wasn't thinking. I was just running scared, I guess."

After the three could finally breathe again, they could focus on the more important things. Haley looked around, realizing how deep into the woods they were. "Luke, where are we?" she asked worryingly.

"I dunno. I lost the trail a little while back. I just kept running, because I figured we'd find them eventually. Sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking straight."

Haley let out a sigh. "Now what?" she asked.

"Well, did you guys see any more signs of blood on the ground?"

"Nah. We were just following you, man. You were going too fast," replied Nathan.

"Shit." Lucas was now searching the ground frantically to see if there were any blood stains they had missed. He was now out of ideas and looked over to see a frightened Haley who was sitting on the ground with her hands covering her face. Nathan was rubbing her back and trying to calm her down, but the truth was that she wasn't going to be okay until she knew her friends were safe and sound.

Lucas sat against a tree as well and looked up at the sky, asking for answers to questions that he couldn't even come up with. "This is all my fault," he got out, as he sobbed silently into his hands as well.

---

Brooke looked over and could finally make out clearly that the figure was her best friend. She was still trying to get her breath to a steady rhythm, and was at a loss for words. "Peyton," was all she could manage to croak out.

Peyton had crawled over to the gun using every last ounce of strength she had left in her body, which had left her very fatigued. Now that her task was complete, she let the gun drop to the ground, along with her hand to follow. She was so tired that she didn't have the strength to hold it any longer.

She looked down to see blood still trickling down her leg and seeping through the cloth wrapped around her leg from Brooke. This scared her, and she let the tiredness get to her. She just wanted to sleep forever and forget about the pain she was enduring. Her eyelids were getting heavier by the second and she surrendered to them, letting them shut.

Once Brooke could breathe correctly, she propped herself up to observe the current situation. She saw Liz's body lying lifelessly next to her with her shirt stained crimson red from the bullet wound, and the aroma of copper. Brooke was starting to gag from this sight and it didn't help any when she realized Liz's blood had gotten on her too. She wiped the blood off of her and kept the queasy feeling down in her stomach.

Brooke found enough strength to crawl over to Peyton's puppet-looking body, as it layed there with no motion. She was waiting for the strings to pull Peyton back up so that she'd be okay, but as she approached her friend's body she grew with worry.

Brooke shook her body in an attempt to wake Peyton up. "Come on Peyton. Wake up. I need you to wake up for me," she kept repeating with every sob. She laid her head against her friend's chest to check if she was breathing. Brooke let out a sigh of relief as she felt Peyton's chest rise and fall. They were slow and weak breaths, but at least she was still alive.

---

I was going to keep writing, but I got tired, considering its 2 AM. I'll write more when I get the chance. I'll keep writing as long as you guys keep reviewing. Thanks.


	5. Let it Be

**Hello all. Aren't you excited I got to update semi-quickly? I haven't been swamped with work lately, so I managed to write another chapter. Not sure if all the grammar is correct, because it's late and I want to just get the update posted. You guys are going to be very pleased with this one though...I hope. It's slightly longer than others, at a request. I decided to incorporate a song into it, but not like people normally do. I was very pleased with the turnout of it. Please review. I love feedback!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or the song I used, "Let it Be" by The Beatles.**

**Flashbacks are in italics.**

**Here's a refresher...**

_Brooke shook her body in an attempt to wake Peyton up. "Come on Peyton. Wake up. I need you to wake up for me," she kept repeating with every sob. She laid her head against her friend's chest to check if she was breathing. Brooke let out a sigh of relief as she felt Peyton's chest rise and fall. They were slow and weak breaths, but at least she was still alive._

She laid with her friend for what felt like an hour, but was only a few minutes. Brooke's shoulder was throbbing and blood was trickling down her arm. Just as she was about to rip one of her sleeves off and tie it around the wound, she heard a familiar voice.

"Brooke," Peyton managed to whisper in between slow breaths.

"Peyton? Oh, thank God you're awake. You were worrying me for a second." Brooke was trying to keep it together for her friend, and managed to crack a smile.

Peyton was very pale now, with dark circles under her puffy eyes, and when she could manage to keep them open, they were filled with tears from the pain. This scared Brooke. "Hey, you've gotta stay awake, ok? I have to get help, and if you fall asleep…I don't know if I'll be able to wake you up again…" Brooke said with tear-filled eyes, because she was too tired to fight them back any longer.

"No, Brooke. I don't wanna die alone…I'm scared…Stay with me," pleaded Peyton.

"I know. I'm scared too, but if I don't get you help soon…" Peyton's eyes grew heavy and she began to close them again. "Come on P. Sawyer. Stay awake for me."

Peyton was tired of fighting death. She wanted to just accept it. She thought back to all the bad things that happened in her life, starting with when her mom died. She could remember it like it was yesterday.

"_Peyton what are you doing down here, under this bridge?" asked Brooke, who sat down next to her best friend._

"_Running away from all the bad. Trying to figure out why God could take the life of such an innocent and caring person like my mom," said Peyton. She was staring at her hands which were intertwined and resting on her lap. She was trying very hard to hold her tears back because she didn't want Brooke to see her cry._

_Brooke didn't know what to say. She wanted to help her friend, but she had no idea what kind of pain she was going through. Then she remembered what Peyton would play on her old record player for Brooke, when she was feeling down. Immediately, she started singing the words to the song._

"_When I find myself in times of trouble_

_Mother Mary comes to me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."_

_Peyton couldn't hold the sadness back any longer and looked at Brooke with a heart-breaking expression on her face. The tears were streaming down her face now and she was crying so hard that she couldn't even breathe. And for the first time, Brooke was seeing the strongest person she'd ever met, cry._

_Brooke took her friend in a hug and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down, still singing the song._

"_And in my hour of darkness_

_She is standing right in front of me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be._

_Let it be, let it be._

_Whisper words of wisdom, let it be."_

_She thought to the time when she thought her dad was dead too while he was off at sea…which was the time that her and Lucas almost cheated on Brooke._

_And then when her real mom died. And when she found out she had a brother, but then he left._

_People were always leaving her, and she figured maybe it was time for her to leave as well._

"Brooke. I don't want to fight this anymore."

"Come on Peyt. Do you remember the time I found you under that bridge after your mom died? I was looking for you for hours and I wasn't going to stop until I found you safe and sound."

"Yeah I remember."

"Okay. Do you remember the song I sang?"

"Of course. I listened to it every day that summer."

"Good. Well, I need you to sing it now."

"Brooke, I'm too tired to sing right now."

"Come on, you've gotta sing it to stay awake while I go get help."

"Brooke…I can't do this ri—"

"When I find myself in times of trouble…Mother Mary comes to me…Speaking words of wisdom…" Brooke had started singing and wanted Peyton to finish the line.

"Let it be…" she sang at a whisper.

"See you can do this Peyton. Come on, keep singing the song. I'm gonna find Lucas and the others and we'll be back for you."

"You promise?"

"I promise." She kissed Peyton on the forehead and began running in the direction that they originally came from.

Brooke had been running for a few minutes before she realized how lost she was. They were in the middle of nowhere, in the thick of the woods. She sat down on a moss-covered rock trying to catch her breath. She looked at the blood on her hands, not knowing whose it was at that point, and began rubbing it off onto her designer jeans.

Tears welling up in her eyes and looking up at all of the trees surrounding her, Brooke screamed as loud as she could, but her voice was limp. She was getting weaker by the second from the injuries and knew she had to find her friends fast.

She mustered up every ounce of energy she had and let out a loud "HELLLPPPP!!!!" and then in a quieter voice, "somebody." She fell to her knees and began crying uncontrollably.

---

_Lucas sat against a tree as well and looked up at the sky, asking for answers to questions that he couldn't even come up with. "This is all my fault," he got out, as he sobbed silently into his hands as well._

After what was only mere seconds, he heard a cry for help in the distance. It seemed much closer this time than before. He could tell what direction it was coming from and stood up with determination. He looked at Nathan sternly and said "let's go." Lucas started sprinting again and began hearing the cries more clearly after every stride.

However, Lucas was not ready for the sight that he was about to witness. The girl that he once loved was on all fours, gasping for breath from all the screaming she just did. Brooke had used all of the strength she had to cry for help, and didn't have enough left in her to look up and see who was there to save her. She was still humming the tune to the song, praying Peyton would make it out of this alive. "Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.  
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be."

Lucas was still standing there in shock as Haley and Nathan approached.

"Lucas why did you stop?" asked Haley, and then noticed what he was looking at. She immediately ran over to Brooke's side. "Oh my God, Brooke."

Brooke had collapsed, landed on her side, and began crying.

Haley knew she was going to have to reason with Brooke in order to get answers out of her. She laid down next to Brooke and faced her at eye-level. She was rubbing her arm and trying to calm her down. "Brooke. What happened?"

"I…she…there was a gun…and Peyton…" she managed to get out in between sobs.

"Who had a gun? Brooke, where's Peyton?"

Brooke pointed in the direction from where she came. "I promised her I'd go back for her. I told her not to fall asleep."

Haley nodded and looked up to Lucas who had almost every emotion running through him. Most of all were anger and worry. "Luke, you go find Peyton, and bring her back here." She pointed in the direction that Brooke did. "When we're all together again, we'll get to the car and call 9-1-1."

Lucas was still stalling, unsure if he comprehended the directions because he couldn't think straight. "NOW, Lucas!" And that's all he needed to hear from his best friend in order to snap out of it and find Peyton. He darted through the woods once more to find his current love.

"Nathan, I need your help." Haley said after Lucas took off. She sat Brooke up, who was as limp as a rag doll, and laid her against herself, now sitting upright as well. She wrapped her arms around her friend and rested her chin on Brooke's unharmed shoulder.

"What do you need me to do?" asked Nathan whose forehead was wrinkled into a worried expression.

"Her shoulder is hurt, Nate. Can you do anything about it?"

He inspected the wound and looked at Haley. "Look's like she's been shot. Not sure if the bullet went through or not, there's too much blood. We have to get pressure on it and stop the bleeding though."

Haley nodded in agreement, and Nathan ripped part of his shirt off, revealing his toned abs. He went to tie it around Brooke's shoulder and hesitated.

"What is it Nathan?"

"Well, this is going to hurt a bit."

Brooke was slightly calmer than before now that her friend was comforting her. She began to sing the song again in a whisper. "And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be."

Haley picked up on the tune that Brooke was singing, and took over for the next few lines. She nodded towards Nathan, telling him it was okay to start tying off her shoulder, and began singing. "For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see, there will be an answer. Let it be."

Brooke loved listening to Haley sing. It was soothing and made her feel like nothing else in the world mattered, and for that instant, that everything would be okay. Brooke had stopped crying, and closed her eyes slowly. She tightened them and winced in pain when Nathan touched her shoulder, but loosened them back up and let fatigue get the best of her.

Haley was not swaying Brooke back and forth like a child, and kept singing the words to the song. "Let it be, let it be… And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me, shine until tomorrow, let it be."

Haley was singing not only to calm Brooke down, but to calm herself down as well. After seeing the state that Brooke was in, she knew Peyton's would be much worse if she had to leave her behind to get help. She was scared for Brooke and Peyton and just wanted everything to be okay.

Lucas ran until his heart ached…

And then he ran some more.

He put the pain behind him and knew he had to find Peyton.

After a few minutes of running, Lucas tripped over a branch and landed on the hard earth with a thud. He rubbed his head and stood up slowly. Just as he was about to start running again, he saw an unfamiliar face lying next to him. It was a girl he had never seen before, and she had a gunshot wound in her abdomen. She was lying in a pool of blood, but Lucas checked her pulse out of courtesy. She was dead. Then he looked up to see a prettier, more recognizable face. "Peyton," he said to himself.

Lucas ran over to her side and checked her vitals. She was still breathing, and she had a pulse. Lucas didn't realize it, but she was actually still singing. She was very slow and managed to get half of a line out in between each breath, but she kept her promise and kept singing.

"I wake up to the sound of music…mother Mary comes to me…  
speaking words of wisdom…let it be." She had finished the song and opened her eyes slowly to see that Brooke had kept her promise as well. "Luke…" was all that she managed to get out before he kissed her passionately, hoping it wasn't the last time he'd get to do that.


	6. Just Breathe

**This story took a little longer than expected to update, but hey, it's finally up. I had motivation at work while I was extremely bored and handwrote about three pages. This chapter is a little short, so don't be disappointed. There's some major Baley friendship in this one and some Leyton. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer...I don't own any of One Tree Hill, but I do own this story.**

**Just a refresher...**

"_I wake up to the sound of music…mother Mary comes to me…  
speaking words of wisdom…let it be." She had finished the song and opened her eyes slowly to see that Brooke had kept her promise as well. "Luke…" was all that she managed to get out before he kissed her passionately, hoping it wasn't the last time he'd get to do that._

Lucas broke the kiss and Peyton mouthed the words, "I love you."

"I know. Me too," he replied with a broken look, sliding one of his arms under her legs and the other under her back.

Peyton wrapped one of her arms around Lucas' neck and buried her head in his chest. He stood up and went as fast as he could towards the others, dodging any branches that came in his way.

Peyton tried to stay awake like Brooke told her to, but now that she was in her boyfriend's arms, she felt safe and let exhaustion get the best of her. She closed her eyes and drifted asleep, not knowing if she was ever going to wake up again.

After a couple minutes of running through the woods, he found the others and stood there breathing heavily with scratches and dirt covering his face, still carrying his girl.

Nathan got up and ran over to Luke. "Hey man, is she okay?"

"I dunno. We gotta get back to the car though. We don't have time to stop. You can carry Brooke and follow me. Haley, you follow Nathan, okay?" Lucas ordered.

Haley didn't like how demanding Lucas was being, but he was right, and they didn't have time to argue about whether he was being an ass hole or not. "Okay," she said.

Nathan nodded and went over to get Brooke.

Brooke opened up her eyes and looked up at Nathan. "I'm fine. I can walk just fine on my own." She broke free from Haley's arms and stood up. Suddenly she felt very dizzy and grabbed her head to stop the spinning. Haley quickly stood up to help, but Brooke had begun to collapse. Nathan put his arms out and caught her from falling.

"See, Brooke. You're not okay," he explained to her, but she had blacked out and couldn't hear a thing. He lifted her in his arms and motioned for Lucas to take the lead.

Nathan looked back at Haley who was following behind everyone, but was all alone and scared. "Hales," he called to her.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"It's gonna be okay. I promise."

Haley was too afraid to say anymore because it would have driven her to tears. Instead, she forced a smile out and nodded. Nathan turned back around and kept moving. She didn't want him to worry, so she held her tears back and swallowed hard after each breath she took.

After what had only been five minutes, Lucas finally saw the light illuminating from the open road growing closer and closer. He began to ran as fast as he could with Peyton in his arms and approached the car. He opened the door to the backseat and laid her down. He looked behind him to see the others approaching.

"Nathan, you're gonna have to drive," Lucas said as he tossed the keys to his brother. "Put Brooke in the passenger's seat, and Haley you sit with her and try to wake her up," he demanded. "I'm gonna keep Peyton company in the backseat and help her stay awake until we can get her medical attention." They both nodded and acted quickly.

Nathan placed Brooke in the passenger's seat and ran around to the driver's side. He jumped in and started the car, following with Haley and Lucas getting into their designated positions.

Just as Nathan was about to drive, he stopped and thought. "Lucas, where's the nearest hospital?"

"Shit. Haley, check the glove box, there should be a map in there. Try to find out where we are and then look for the nearest hospital. In the meantime, Nathan, just turn around and head towards home. I'd rather be at a hospital closer to home than out here in the middle of nowhere," Lucas stated.

Nathan nodded, and made a three-point turn with the car, heading back towards Tree Hill.

Haley removed her arm that was around an unconscious Brooke, and opened the glove box. She unfolded the large map, and traced her finger along the road that they were on. "Ok I think I see where we are…" she said, now tracing her finger back towards Tree Hill, in search for a hospital landmark. "Looks like there's a hospital about ten miles from here. Stay on this road for a bit and I'll guide you from there," she said as she folded the map up enough to just reveal where they were.

"Okay. I'm gonna call my mom and tell her to meet us at the hospital," replied Lucas. He waved his phone around in the air. "Damnit, no signal," he said, frustrated.

"How's Brooke doing, Hales?" asked Nathan, driving as fast as he could down the road.

Haley grabbed onto the door as Nathan took a sharp turn down the windy road. "I dunno." She rubbed Brooke's arm, trying to wake her up calmly. "Brooke? Hey, Brooke? Wake up for me. Come on Tigger, it's Tutor Girl."

Brooke opened her eyes slowly and lifted up her head that was resting on Haley's shoulder. She remembered the events of the day after the pain came back to her shoulder, and closed her eyes tightly while gritting her teeth.

"It's okay Brooke," Haley insured. "We're on our way to a hospital right now and everything's gonna be fine. You just gotta hang in there.

"Haley?" asked Brooke in a whisper.

"Yeah, hunny?" she replied, pushing back the hair that had fallen in front of her friend's face."

"I don't wanna die," she said, while sobbing.

Haley frowned more than she already was and handed Brooke a bottle of water that was resting in the cup holder. "Here. Drink some of this. It'll make you feel better."

However, Brooke was too tired to move, let alone lift her arm. Haley noticed the struggle and helped her out. She lifted the bottle up and poured it into Brooke's mouth like a mother does for a child. "There. Now don't you feel a little better?" Haley asked while wiping the tears from her friend's cheek.

Brooke just closed her eyes and took a deep breath in to let her next thought escape her mind. "Tutor Girl?"

"Yeah?" she asked with a smile on her face. She loved the nickname that Brooke gave her.

Brooke swallowed hard. "I'm scared of hospitals."

"I know. Nobody likes them, but we need them to survive in times like these."

"Peyton!?" Lucas was shouting from the backseat, trying to wake her up after she stopped responding. "Come on Peyton, wake up for me," he pleaded, eyes filling with tears.

Haley turned around with concern, and Brooke sat still. Haley placed a kiss on her friend's forehead and stated, "I'm gonna help Peyton out. Hang in there, okay?"

Brooke nodded and swallowed hard. With that, Haley jumped to the backseat.

"How is she doing?" asked Nathan, now flooring the gas pedal.

"I dunno. I can't wake her up," Lucas replied.

Haley had taken a CPR class a few years back for a babysitting job, so she knew the proper procedure if someone wasn't responding. She shook Peyton and yelled for her to wake up. There was no response. She tilted her head back to let the air flow properly and rested her head on her friend's chest to check her vitals. After realizing her chest wasn't rising and falling, she grew more concerned.

"Luke, she's not breathing," Haley said.

"So what do we do?" he asked, crying.

"We have to perform CPR. I'm gonna do fifteen chest compressions, and then when I tell you to, plug her nose and give her two breaths, nice and slow."

Without hesitation, Haley began pumping compressions and counted to fifteen. "Okay Luke," your turn.

He did as he was told and delivered two breaths. They waited for a change in Peyton's status. No response. "Okay, let's do it again Luke." Haley begun her compressions and looked at Luke when she got to fifteen. He gave her two slow breaths again and waited for her to wake up.

"Come on Peyton. Just breathe!" yelled Haley. "Please…" she begged.


	7. Angel of Mercy

**Okay, wow. It's been forever since I updated. Even more than usual. I had to work a lot and got swamped with paperwork from college and everything, and completely lost interest in writing the story. But I got motivation to write again, so I bring you a new chapter. Please don't hate me for taking forever to update, I hate it when my favorite stories are left on cliffhangers and then get neglected. But don't worry, I have the outline for the next few chapters, so I can wrap this story up soon. Thank you for reading, and once again, I don't own One Tree Hill or the characters, just this story.**

**P.S. I got the title of this chapter from a lyric in a song called "Mercy" by One Republic. I suggest checking out their MySpace because they are a new band and are amazing.**

"_Come on Peyton. Just breathe!" yelled Haley. "Please…" she begged_.

Nathan kept nervously checking the rear view mirror to see how Peyton was doing. His glance caught Haley's and she returned him a scared look. With that, he pressed on the gas pedal even harder.

Haley looked back at Peyton and took a deep breath in order to relax herself. "Okay, come on, Peyton. You can do this. Just breathe." She looked at Luke and back at Peyton. She started doing compressions again and when she finished, gave Luke the okay to deliver breathes.

After Lucas finished, he felt Peyton's cold breath on his face. Haley noticed the rising and falling of her chest and smiled.

"Peyton?" Lucas asked, as he rubbed her face with his hands.

Peyton slowly opened her eyes and took deep breathes, filling her lungs with new oxygen. She had no idea what just happened. One minute she was so peaceful, like nothing else in the world mattered, and now, her body was aching and her head was pounding. "C-c-cold," was all she stammered out.

Haley reached into the back of the SUV and grabbed a sleeping bag. She unrolled it and placed it over Peyton. Lucas tucked the sides in and kissed her on the forehead. "Almost lost you there for a minute," he said.

Haley looked over at the happy couple and said, "Luke, I'm gonna go check on Brooke."

Lucas nodded and went back to comforting Peyton.

As Haley climbed into the front seat, she looked over at Brooke who was resting her head against the window with her eyes closed. "Brooke?" she asked.

Brooke responded with a groan, and Haley wrapped an arm around her. "Brooke, come on you gotta stay awake until we get to the hospital."

"I know. But I'm just so tired," she replied as she rested her head on Haley's shoulder.

"Shit," Nathan said under his breath. He looked in his rear view mirror to find blue and red sirens blinding him. He slowed down and pulled the car over.

"Why are we stopping?" Lucas asked.

"Well, in case you haven't realized it yet, we're being pulled over," Nathan retorted.

The cop approached Nathan's window and looked inside. "Good God, what's going on here? Those two don't look well," the cop said.

"Well, they're not, sir. We're on our way to the hospital, that's why I was speeding. Now, the faster you let us go, the faster we can get them help, so if you don't mind, I need to get going," Nathan shot back, angrily.

"Alright, I'll give you an escort. Just follow me and you'll get there faster."

The cop got back in his car and drove in front of the SUV. He got on his radio and let the hospital know that they were on their way and should be there within minutes.

"Luke, you better call your mom and tell her to meet us at the hospital considering none of our parents are help to us right now," Nathan told him.

"Yeah, you're right," he replied. He pulled out his cell phone with one hand while his other was holding Peyton's hand. After a couple of rings he heard his mom's voice and let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, mom. It's Luke."

"Oh hey, hunny. What's wrong? Aren't you guys on your road trip, or do you already miss me?" She chuckled and then stopped when she didn't get a reply. "Lucas, what is it?"

"Mom, there's no time to explain right now, but I'm fine. Brooke and Peyton were shot and we need you to meet us at Mercy Hospital. It's kind of far from Tree Hill, so you're going to have to look up the directions online. Just call me when you're there and I'll let you know where we are."

"Jeez…okay, okay. I'm looking up the directions now. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay, mom. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye"

"Bye."

Lucas looked up and they were pulling into the hospital. Doctors were running out to them with stretchers. When they stopped, Haley and Lucas flung open the doors.

The doctors got Peyton and Brooke on separate stretchers and were checking their vitals as they rushed them back into the hospital.

Haley was holding onto Brooke's hand and rushing along side her as they wheeled her towards the emergency room. "You're gonna be okay, Brooke!" Haley kept shouting.

"This one's crashing!" one of the doctors yelled out. Haley looked up and saw doctors and nurses rush over to Brooke and she got pushed out of the way. "No! Brooke!" Haley kept screaming. Nathan ran over to her and put his arms around her to prevent her from falling. She was crying uncontrollably and was having trouble breathing in between her sobs.

Thank you for reading. I promise I'll update more once I get my own laptop! I'm also very sorry this update was so short.


	8. Holding Up

**Hello all. Since I got my laptop, I've been able to update a lot faster. I won't say much, except enjoy reading. Please review, I love feedback.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or its characters.**

About an hour had gone by still there was no word from the doctors on how their friends were.

Lucas was by the snack machines and kept pacing back and forth, staring through the double doors every time somebody opened them. He wondered if this was what everyone went through when he was in the hospital. So many thoughts kept jogging his mind, and he had chewed so vigorously on his nails, that he actually drew blood.

Haley was sitting next to Nathan in one of the waiting chairs. Nathan kept trying tying to comfort her, but she wouldn't let him. She was worried, but didn't want to show it because if every thing turned out fine, she would have regretted getting all worked up about it.

Nathan had his head buried in his hands and kept trying to wake up from this nightmare. Haley kept rubbing his back and staring straight ahead, reassuring herself that her best friends would be fine.

After a couple of more minutes of this, the same police officer that pulled the car over, started walking towards the three teens. He approached Nathan first and put a hand on his shoulder. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you at this time, but we're going to need a statement from you." He looked over at Haley. "And your two friends here, as well."

Nathan looked up at the man and wrinkled his brow. "Officer, I don't think now is the best time…"

"I know, but you show up here with two girls who have been shot, and you didn't call 9-1-1 right away. I kind of need to know exactly how this happened. The sooner, the better."

"Well, first off, we didn't call 9-1-1 because none of us get any damn reception out here. And second, I'm sorry but all I can tell you is that we were on a road trip, on our way to California. I was asleep for the most of it, and then I wake up to Haley talking to Luke. Next thing I know me and Luke hear Haley scream and we rush out to see what happened…"

"So, you would be Haley, miss?"

Haley kept staring straight ahead as if she didn't hear the cop.

"She's still a little shaken up. I really don't wanna do this right now. Can't it wait."

"Well, is that boy over there Luke?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he's gonna wanna talk about it."

"Okay, well thank you for your time, son."

"Sure, no problem."

Haley looked at Nathan for the first time and said "I think I'm going to use the bathroom."

"You think, or you know?"

"Nathan, now isn't the time to joke."

"I'm not joking, you're just not yourself, and you're worrying me. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I need to use the ladies room. Excuse me." She stood up and walked over to the bathroom.

Nathan looked back at the floor and shook his head. It upset him that he couldn't help her in this time of need.

Meanwhile, the officer walked over to Lucas. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me, are you Luke?"

"Yeah, who's asking?" he asked sternly.

"Hey, no need to get defensive. I'm the cop that gave you guys an escort here, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Okay, I just want to ask you a few questions. Would that be alright?"

"I'm not really in the mood, sir."

"I know, but like I told your buddy Nathan over there, it's a little suspicious that you guys show up here with a couple of girls that have been shot, and don't have an explanation for it. Now you have either two options. You can tell me what you know, or you can come down to the station with me for questioning there. And if you still don't wanna talk, then you're still a suspect and you'll have to stay in a cell until you fess up."

"Are you threatening me?" Lucas asked in an annoyed tone.

"No, I'm merely giving you options."

"Options? So I either have to revisit the terrible thing that just happened to me and my friends an hour ago when I don't know if they're alive or not, or I can go to jail, is what you're saying?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, I guess it's better to do it now, than later if they _are_ dead, right?" almost in a jokingly manner.

Lucas clenched his fists together and gritted his teeth some more.

"Woah, there. No need to get angry, boy."

"Take it back."

"Take what back?" the officer asked in a non-serious manner.

"That they're dead."

"Well, I dunno if they're dead or alive, son, so wouldn't I be lying if I promised you they're not dead?"

Lucas' fist met the officer's jaw in a quick manner. As soon as the officer hit the ground, he whipped out his gun and aimed it at Lucas.

The cop stood up, still aiming his gun at Lucas, and told him to get on the ground with his hands behind him.

Nathan heard the commotion and looked up to see what was happening. "Shit." Just as he was about to get up to help his brother, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Nathan, what's going on?"

"Hey, Karen. Umm well it looks like Luke is getting arrested."

"Oh no." She ran over to Lucas and the cop. "What the hell are you doing with my son?"

"Ma'am, this boy punched me for no reason. He's violent and is a suspect in the case of Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis."

"How could he be a suspect? Those are his two friends. Do you really think he would do that and then stick around to see the result."

"Kids are crazy these days, and I haven't heard the full story yet, so how do I know what the truth is. Either way, this boy just punched me, and that's assault, so I'm takin' him in for that."

"Mom, I didn't do anything wrong! He was being an ass hole! Making fun of whether Peyton and Brooke are alive or not! You have to believe me!" Lucas shouted.

"Well, I'm taking him down to the police station for questioning. You can find him there and bail him out for this little stunt he pulled."

The officer stood Lucas up and walked him towards the door. "MOM! MOM! I don't wanna go to jail, I just wanna know if my friends are okay! This isn't fair! I didn't do ANYTHING!"

Karen stayed where she was and called out, "Luke, don't resist arrest, it'll only make matters worse. I'll meet you at the station to bail you out! Don't worry!"

Nathan walked over to Karen, still in awe of what just happened. "So, now what?"

"Well, I have to go bail him out, but I can't just leave you guys here by yourselves—wait, where's Haley?"

"She said she had to go to the bathroom. I dunno what to do Karen, everything is all messed up. They haven't told us anything."

"Okay, why don't you go have a glass of water, and try to get some rest in the waiting area. You look like you need it. I'm gonna go see if Haley is okay, and we'll go from there."

"Thank you so much. It's nice to have a parent around that isn't on drugs or in jail."

She smiled. "Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment."

She headed for the bathroom to find Haley.

Haley was on the ground of one of the stalls and was hunched over the toilet seat. She felt extremely nauseous but nothing was coming up. Her head was pounding and she broke out into a cold sweat. She heard a knock on her stall.

"Haley, is that you?" Karen asked.

Haley immediately felt relieved that somebody was here for her, but at the same time, she didn't want anyone to see how weak she was.

"Haley, just open the door and we can talk about this, okay?"

She pushed herself up and stood, leaning against the stall door. "What if I don't want to talk about it?" she asked in between her sobs.

"Then you don't have to. But Lucas just got arrested, and—"

Haley swung the door open. "He what?!"

Karen had never seen Haley so distraught in her life. Her skin was pale, but her face was a mixture of different shades of pink. Not to mention, she was trembling slightly. "Oh, Haley." Karen walked into the stall and pulled Haley into a hug.

Haley cried and felt comfort for the first time that day. It was the kind of comfort someone can only get from a parent. She felt all of her problems and worries disappear in that moment, and nothing else mattered.

"Why…why did Lucas get arrested?" she choked out.

Karen pulled out of the hug but kept her arms on Haley. She wiped away the stray tears from her face and said, "well, the cop was trying to question him and he got him angry, and Luke punched him. So he took him in for assault."

"Yeah, the cop was questioning Nathan, too."

"Well, what _did_ happen exactly. Lucas didn't tell me much on the phone."

"To be honest, I don't even know. Brooke, said something about a gun, and…" the tears welled up in her eyes again from remembering the incident. "I don't know. Peyton and Brooke were in the woods. They had to go to the bathroom. And then I went to find them, and I found blood, and Lucas, Nathan, and I continued the search. We finally found Brooke and Lucas went and found Peyton. When he came back, we all got into the car and drove to the hospital. Only Peyton and Brooke would know what happened out there." She said this story as fast as she could, because she wanted to get the memory over with.

"It's okay, Haley. The important thing is that you found them, and they're getting help. Everything will be fine."

Just then there was a knock on the door and the two girls looked up.

"Haley? Karen? Are you guys in there?" Nathan called out.

Haley walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hey."

"Hey, baby, how are you holding up?"

"Fine."

"Okay. Well the doctors said they have some information on Peyton and Brooke."

"Okay." Haley took Nathan's hand, and followed him to the waiting room, and Karen followed them.

Cliffhanger!!!! Sorry I didn't mention anything about how Brooke or Peyton were doing in this chapter, but you'll know definitely next chapter.


	9. I'm Waiting

**Hey everyone. I know you all want to kill me for that last cliffhanger. But, hey, this chapter explains a little more. Enjoy reading. Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or its characters, but I do own this story**

**---**

Haley noticed how calm the doctor was as they approached him, and hoped that this was a good thing.

The doctor put his hand out for Karen. "Hello, ma'am, my name is Doctor Anthony Withers."

Karen shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, my name is Karen, and this is Haley and Nathan." The two gave a smile and nodded hello.

"Okay, well I assume you all want to know how your friends are doing…" He thumbed through the folders in his hand and paused. "Brooke Davis."

"Yeah, that's her, how is she?" Haley blurted out.

Nathan put an arm around his wife and the doctor eyed her carefully. "Well, luckily, the bullet only pierced her skin. It missed the bone, and as far as we know, there is no nerve damage. She lost a large amount of blood and we had to infuse her with some more. There was only muscle damage to her shoulder, and we'll have to repair that, but other than that, there's just minor scrapes and bruises."

Haley let out the breath that she had been holding in while the doctor was explaining all of this. "Can we see her?" she asked, hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no. We're prepping her for surgery at the moment, and she is unconscious from the drugs."

"So we'll have to wait longer, then, I suppose?" asked Karen.

"Precisely." He paused for a moment and looked down at some papers again. "There's something else you should know. When the ambulance brought her in, she had lost a pulse. We performed CPR until we got her into an emergency room, where we went to using the defibrillator. She was down for a couple of minutes, before we brought her back…"

"What do you mean, down?" asked Nathan.

"Well, we're not sure if there's any brain damage yet. We'll find out more after the surgery."

"But she'll be okay, right?" asked Haley.

"Like I said, we'll just have to wait and see…"

"Thank you, Dr. Withers. What about Peyton, though?" asked Karen.

The doctor frowned at the sound of her name. He picked up the other folder and opened it. "Her wound was a bit more complicated. The bullet was embedded in her leg, and we had to extract it. It did not shatter the bone, but it did break it. She'll have to wear a cast for six months. She had also lost a lot of blood, and was in worse shape than Ms. Davis upon arrival…"

"Luke and I had to do CPR…," revealed Haley.

Karen exchanged a worried glance with the doctor. "Yes, well because of the blood loss, she had little to no pulse while we operated on her. We kept trying to stabilize it, but she kept fighting it. It was almost like she stopped battling for her life."

"But is she gonna be okay, doc?" asked Nathan.

"Well, I can't say for sure or not. After we removed the bullet, we sewed up the wound, and stabilized her. She's still on some medication right now, and is still unconscious. But I can't guarantee that she's going to wake up or not. She wasn't getting enough blood circulation to her brain, and that deprived it of oxygen…"

"So, she…she's in a coma?" Haley stammered.

"Yes. All that we can do now is to wait for her to wake up."

"Can…um…" Haley looked at Nathan for him to finish the sentence because she was fighting back tears.

"She wants to know if we can see her."

"Yes, one, maybe two at a time at the most," replied the doctor. "She's in room 204."

Nathan nodded. "Thank you, doctor...for everything."

"No problem." The doctor shook Nathan's hand, gave a nod to Haley and Karen, and turned back to the operating rooms.

"Lucas should know what's going on. I'll drive over to the police station to bail him out, and you guys can stay here, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can."

Haley and Nathan nodded.

"Okay, say 'hi' to Peyton for me." She gave a reassuring smile towards them and hugged Haley goodbye.

"Thanks, Karen." Haley said as Karen walked towards the exit.

Nathan turned towards his wife. "You ready?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She took his hand and walked through the swinging doors.

---

"So, Luke, tell me exactly what happened today, starting from the time you woke up," the cop said, leaning over a chair, with his hands on it for support.

Lucas was sitting down in a chair with his hands cuffed, resting on a table. He was in a dark room with only a light bulb dangling from the ceiling to illuminate the features of his face. "Well, first off, my name is _Lucas_, to you."

"So, you're a smart mouth, are you? Well, I'm just letting you know that doing that isn't going to get you out of here any faster. So, let's try this again. _Lucas,_ tell me how your day went, starting from when you woke up."

Lucas gritted his teeth in anger. "Well, _sir_, I woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and drove over to my girlfriend, Peyton's house."

"Okay, and what time was this at, would you say?"

"I can't say for sure, but it was pretty early. My car was already packed with my stuff, and we were going on a road trip to California. I said I'd drive, so I had to pick everyone up."

"And why were you going to California?"

"Well, we were going to drop Brooke and Peyton off there, because that's where they're staying this summer. And then Nathan, Haley, and I were going to take a flight home."

"Okay, so you don't think it's coincidence that Peyton and Brooke, the very same girls that were shot, happened to be the one's both staying in California this summer?"

"Not at all."

"So, continue with the story. After you picked all of your friends up, what happened then?"

"We stopped to get gas. Peyton and Brooke ran into the store to grab some food for the road and I filled the tank."

"And then what happened?"

"Well we got back on the road and drove for another couple of hours. Brooke had to go to the bathroom, and seeing as there wasn't one for miles, I pulled over and had her go in the woods. She took Peyton with her, and I accidentally fell asleep, waiting."

"Continue."

"Well, Haley woke me up and I realized they had been gone for quite some time. We all got out of the car, and Haley went looking for them. She saw some blood, we went running, and tried to find them. We found Brooke first, and she was bleeding from her shoulder…"

"Continue…"

"It's kinda hard to tell you all of this right now. It was a traumatizing moment and I just wanna get back to my friends, sir. Can't we do this later."

"No. Now come on, what happened after you found Brooke?"

Lucas took a gulp. "Well, I was in shock. I just stood there. I couldn't move. Haley snapped me out of it and told me to go find Peyton. So, I did. I found her a couple of minutes later."

"Was Brooke conscious, when you found her? I forgot to ask."

"Yes."

"And Peyton?"

"Yes," Lucas said angrily. "I found Peyton, and she was still awake, but barely." He racked his brain and tried to remember what happened. "But, I remember tripping over a body."

"Whose body?"

"I…I'm not sure…wasn't really concerned at the moment," he stammered.

"Male, or female?"

"It was a girl."

"Dead?"

"Looked like it. She had been shot in the chest, I think…"

"So, Brooke was away from the scene, and you found Peyton and some other girl not too far, all having bullet wounds?"

"Yes, how many times do I have to repeat myself?" Lucas asked irritably.

"Just trying to get the story straight, Lucas. So, if all of them where shot, then where's the gun?"

"I dunno. I wasn't looking for one. I just picked Peyton up and left."

"Wait right here." The officer stood up and exited the room.

Lucas sat back in his char and fiddled with his thumbs nervously. He still didn't know how Peyton or Brooke was, and this was the last place he'd like to be.

Minutes later the officer came back.

"Okay, I've got a search team about to start scaling the woods. Once they find the body and the gun, we'll be able to find more out, but until then, we don't need you." He walked over to Lucas and stood him up. "You'll have to go back into your cell."

---

Lucas was sitting in the cell by himself and thanked God that he didn't have to share it. They hadn't given him an orange jumpsuit yet, so he figured he wouldn't have to stay long.

"Lucas Scott."

"That's me, sir."

The cop was in an all black uniform and eyed the boy. "Your mother is here to bail you out, kid." He chuckled to himself and opened the barred door.

Lucas stood up and walked through the opening. The officer led him to the room where his mom was.

"Mom!" he yelled out as she ran over to him and hugged him. "I thought I was gonna have to stay for questioning?"

"They can't legally keep you here for that. I paid your bail for hitting the cop, so you're free to go."

"Let's just get out of here. I wanna get back to the hospital."

He wrapped an arm around her and they walked to the car.

---

**Hehe****…another cliffhanger, I know. ****You'll find out more as the story progresses, I promise.**


	10. Big Girls Don't Cry

**Hey everyone. I'm so sorry that I just realized I've been a jerk. I haven't been thanking the people that read my stories and leave such lovely reviews. **

**So I'd like to personally thank ****VHS Chick, THwriter, volleyballgirl0323,**** kaligator, JosselynR., ****and lonely girl 23, ****. You guys are the reason I'm motivated to keep writing, and I thank you for that.**** I also would like to thank any one else I forgot to mention**** that have reviewed****, and all of you readers, too.**

**I'd like to also let everyone know that next week I go back to college, and the updates will become much less frequent. I'm apologizing now if I keep anyone waiting too long. Well, enough rambling. Enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do now own One Tree Hill or its characters, but I do own this story.**

---

Nathan and Haley approached the elevator, hand in hand.

Haley reached out and pressed the button with the up arrow. The couple stood, waiting anxiously, without saying a word to each other. The ride on the elevator with each other felt more awkward than standing there with a stranger.

The elevator doors opened, revealing that they were on the second floor, and the two walked out.

Nathan turned toward Haley, and looked at her cautiously. They were standing in front of room 204. Just as Nathan opened his mouth and was about to say something, his wife cut him off.

"Can I have a minute in there by myself?" she said so fast it was as if it was one word.

"Sure," Nathan nodded and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll just wait out here." He pointed toward a chair in the hall.

Haley opened the door open slowly, half-expecting to wake up the pretty blonde girl that was lying in the hospital bed.

She pulled a chair up to Peyton's bed side and sat next to her.

"Hey, Peyt, it's me, Haley," she said with a smile. "Listen, you gotta do me a favor. You have to wake up, because we all need you."

She paused to let out a sob, and intertwined Peyton's hand with hers.

"Because Brooke needs you, so she can pull through her surgery. Because it hurts me to see Luke so sad; he loves you so much. And because _I_ need you, Peyton."

Just when Haley thought she didn't have any more tears to shed, the worst of them came. She leaned forward and rested her head on the bed, face-down. She was crying so hard that her body was shaking, but she refused to make a sound.

There was a knock at the door.

"Haley?" a familiar voice called out, but she refused to look up.

Nathan walked over to Haley and began to rub her back, trying to comfort her.

"It's okay, baby. I'm here now."

Haley wrapped her arms around her husband so tight that he could barely breathe, but he didn't mind.

"Nathan, I'm so scared," she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I know, but it's okay. Everything will work out. You'll see," he said while stroking her hair.

"You promise?" Haley pulled away from the hug and looked up at the love of her life.

Nathan's eyes darted back and forth between Haley's, contemplating what to say. "I promise." He gave her a reassuring smile and pulled her back into the hug.

---

Nathan and Haley had been sitting in the room with Peyton for nearly an hour when the door burst open.

"Luke," was all that Haley managed to get out.

Lucas ran over to his girlfriend and held her hand tightly. He began to cry at the sight of this, and looked over at the happy, married couple.

"Do you mind giving me some time with her?" Lucas asked politely.

Nathan stood up, along with his wife. "Not at all. Take as much time as you need. We'll be in the waiting room."

"Thanks," Lucas said, still staring into the closed eyes of Peyton.

The couple left the room and closed the door quietly behind them.

Lucas kissed Peyton's forehead lightly and began to speak. "You gotta wake up, Peyton. I can't go on without you. Come on. We've been through so much, and you're gonna leave me now?"

He let some silent tears fall.

"You have to fight for your life. I did when I had my heart attack, and so did Haley. We knew there were people who loved us that were waiting for us, and somewhere deep down inside, there was only one person for me to keep fighting for. And that person was you, Peyt."

He looked hopefully into her eyes, as if she were to wake up from the trance at any second. It hurt him to know that there was nothing more that the doctor's could do, or that he could do, for that matter. He was always saving her, and for once, he had no control.

Lucas wiped his tears away and took a deep breathe before beginning his next attempt to wake her up.

"Just hear me out. I know you've been through some really tough times right now. You've lost two moms, and people always keep leaving you. But one thing you have to know is that I will never leave you, Peyt. I'm here for you one hundred percent. Now it's you who can't leave me. You have to wake up from this."

He kept looking into those beautiful green eyes of her. "I love you, Peyton," he choked out.

---

Karen was in the waiting room, sitting in an uncomfortable arm chair. She saw Nathan and Haley approaching with their arms wrapped around each other.

She stood up to give Haley a hug. "Hey, kiddo. How you holding up?" she asked.

"I'm fine. We talked to Peyton. Tried to wake her up." Haley replied. She still had an exhausted look to her face, and certainly looked like she had been crying for hours. However, the last time she cried was when she first tried talking to Peyton. Since then, she realized that she had to pull herself together and that crying wasn't solving anything.

"Maybe Lucas can get through to her," Karen suggested.

The three nodded.

"I think I need some coffee. Do you guys want any?" Haley asked.

"I'm fine," replied Karen. "Thank you."

"I'm all set. Let me get it for you though, okay?" Nathan asked.

Haley got angry at this. "No. I can get it myself. I'm not a baby." She stormed off towards the coffee machine.

"Don't be upset. Her sadness has turned to anger, and she's just using you to take it out on," Karen reassured Nathan.

They both took a seat and looked over at Haley. She was punching the buttons to the machine and kicking it, trying to make it work.

"Should I go help?" Nathan asked.

"It's probably best not to," Karen replied.

He nodded, but couldn't help beat himself up over the fact that his wife was breaking down, and he couldn't do anything to help.

Finally, Haley managed to get a cup of coffee and she chugged it, not caring that her throat was burning from the hot liquid. She filled up another cup and walked back over to the waiting area, but sat in a seat far from Nathan and Karen. She picked a window seat, and stared out aimlessly into the sky.

---

The same doctor that broke the news about Peyton and Brooke the first time, was now standing with Nathan and Karen, and talking to them.

Haley looked away from the window for the first time in an hour, and noticed this scene. She got up and ran over to the three of them. "What is it? Is it Brooke? Peyton? What happened?" she asked the doctor in a worried tone of voice.

"I have news about Brooke Davis that I was just about to release," the doctor replied.

All of them exchanged worried glances.

The doctor let out a small smile. "The surgery went very well, and there is no nerve damage. She'll have to wear a sling for a while, but other than that…"

"Can we see her?" Haley asked.

"Yes, you may see her, but she is still asleep from the medication. We're still not sure if there's any brain damage yet. We'll have to wait until she's awake for that."

"What room is she in?" Karen asked.

"She's in 206, right next to Peyton's room. We moved her there after surgery. Only one or two visitors at a time, though, okay?"

Haley took off in a sprint to see her best friend. She was much closer to Brooke than she was to Peyton, but they lived together for months, so the reasons for that were obvious.

"Haley, wait up!" Nathan called out to his wife.

She didn't feel like waiting for the elevator this time, and ran up the stairs. Once on the second floor, she darted down the hall. She ran past Peyton's room and came to a halt in front of room 206.

"Haley. Take it easy. We're in a hospital. You can't just be running through halls," Nathan told her.

She looked at Nathan and gave him a half smile. "Just give me a couple of minutes, okay?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll be out here again." He pointed to the set of chairs he sat in previously.

Karen caught up to Nathan and they both sat down in the chairs provided.

Haley ran over to Brooke's side. She didn't have any machines attached to her, besides the one monitoring her heart rate. Her face had gone back to its regular tone and she was breathing on her own. She had a sling on her arm, but nevertheless, looked healthy. If Haley didn't know any better, she'd say Brooke was just sleeping.

Haley held Brooke's hand and started stroking her hair with the other.

"Hey, Tigger. It's me, Hales. The doctor said you're going to be just fine. You just gotta wake up and prove to everyone that you really are, okay?"

Just then, Haley felt the grip on her hand tighten.

"Brooke?"

---

**Hehe. I love teasing you guys with these cliff hangers. And I didn't even realize it, but the roles are reversed from the episode where Haley gets hit by the car, and Lucas has a heart attack. Except Luke is talking to Peyton, and Haley is talking to Brooke.**** Well, I hope you enjoyed reading! Please review! Thank you!**


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